Hi all!
okay i have an interesting challenge ahead of me, it's something iv'e been thinking about alot but only not do i have the finances (or rather someone elses) to back it.

My brother in law is in the stainless steel industry and has recenlty taken over an office block as part of an expansion plan he has. It's not huge or anything but it's a step forward. Anyway he has 6 people working for him and their jobs entail driving around the country measuring and pricing jobs.

What my brother in law wants is to give them the ability to access files containing up to date material costs and and to view previous quotes and the likes.

The laptops are cheap dell's nothing spectacular just plain old out of the box laptops. He's asked me to set up the server for him and i'm hell bent on pushing slackware as the OS. Anyone ever done anything like this before? If so all info would be GREATFULLY appreciated.

Thanks alibar

Technically if they only need access to files, an FTP server would work fine. Your choice, either FTP or HTTP. For an FTP server read 'man vsftpd', and 'man vsftpd.conf', or 'proftpd'.

Try here for info on configuring apache (HTTP server) and the rest of LAMP:

http://poe.mtholyoke.edu/lamp/

Depending on your needs you'll want more or less what they describe, and it's specifically geared towards Slackware. Mostly apache is what you want, that's the HTTP server.

I agree with H_TeXMeX_H. If they only need to access files FTP or SFTP will be fine. As long as you have SSH running SFTP is on. You could use a SFTP client like WinSCP for windows.

I was thinking about going with apache and maybe tie in a mysql database that can be updated according to each employee and if needs be allow cross linking should one employee leave and another have to take over his or her jobs. I suppose the main advantage of allowing html access would have to be that i wouldnt have to try to explain the concept of ftp to some gorillas, don't get me wrong i'm not being derogatory but these guys are freaks their wider at the shoulders then my ford mondeo! Great workers just not relly in tune with technology!

So a nice front end with colourful buttons and a step by step guide written in crayola and they should have no problems!

Setting up a basic working Apache/MySQL/PHP backend is a piece of cake on Slackware.
The only thing of concern is the Net Connection of the box where you will run the server. If you are in a western country then it shouldn't be hard at all as you probably would have a IPv4 address and can use a dynamic DNS .. in a third world country we are natted out of it all.

I will recommend that you try XAMPP(a.k.a LAMPP) at www.apachefriends.org it will give you all you want in 1 easy to use package...
If not then ready Shilo's guide at shilo.is-a-geek.com. You will find info about dynDNS there too.

Good news is i live in ireland and the isp were choosing offers fixed ip addressing. Ive setup things like this up before but never with slackware. I'm really looking forward to it, can't wait to get stuck in! i ordered the parts last night....might have gone a bit crazy with the credit card but what the heck it's mine!

Yeah, then go with LAMP above. And good luck

Sweet that link is bang on the money htexmexh. I'm familiar with apache but it's sweet to have a guide like that to fall back on! I have it bookmarked, just in the proccess of building. Man i love getting my hands dirty.

I'll post my progress step by step!!

Also, as duryodhan said, you can try XAMPP, they say it's easier to set up.

Can I make a plea to consider a little security? If you're going to be exposing this thing to the internet, people are going to take a rip at it. A couple of things worth looking at:

Mod_Security - You add its rules to your httpd.conf file and it can block some of the nonsense that will be thrown at the box. You'll have to watch your Apache logs and do some tuning in case it blocks legit traffic, but I've found it very useful

Aide - Aide keeps tabs on the files on your computer and lets you know when files have been added, deleted or modified. It won't stop an attack, but it can help you figure out what happened if you do get hit.

Also be sure to visit the Security forum and read through the collection of links at the top. There is a ton of good info there. Slackware is a good, solid server, but it is only as strong as its weakest link, and these days that is usually a PHP application using MySQL and Apache.

I definitely agree. PHP injection is very common these days, so if you're gonna use PHP scripts, might wanna know what you're doing

There are plenty of very good tutorials here:
http://www.w3schools.com/

(I learned (x)html from there)

I'll be doing something similar in a few months (probably using LAMP on my old desktop) ... it'll probably require me learning a good amount of PHP. I know a good amount of python ... maybe it's possible to use that instead of PHP, although PHP is probably gonna be easier, as it was designed specifically for this.

Good point, but another good point you made was about slackware server only being as strong as the weakest link, namely php related issues. Well i'm fairly proficient in PHP and MySQL i've been a fan since the beginning. Interesting links though, iv'e bookmarked under my "Read this butthead" folder and being the butthead i am i always read those links!

Oh 1 more more thing for htexmexh, i mentioned in a previous post i cant remember which one about slamming my fist on the table in frustration.....i fractured 2 of my knuckles!!! thats what passions gets you eh! hahahahaha